A Simple Thank You
by Extraordinarily Extraordinary
Summary: Alexis drops by, just for a quick chat with Kate. But it turns into a longer conversation dealing with fears and insecurities. (I'm aware that summary sounded vaguely creepy...but please read it? It's really just an episode response to 5x06 - The Final Frontier. And there is some Caskett at the end, even though it's not labelled as such.)


**A/N: So, I wasn't going to do any episode one-shots since I'm so busy writing Extraordinary Measures, but this one would not leave me alone. It's rough and probably not great, but I had to get it out.**

**It's labelled Kate/Alexis because it mostly is, but there is a small Caskett moment at the end. Just so you know...**

**DISCLAIMER: (insert yet another way to tell you all that I still do not own Castle)**

**Enjoy!**

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She's finishing up the last of her paperwork when she gets a visitor. She isn't expecting anyone, and almost tells the boys out front to not let the person up, but she agrees anyway. And she's glad when she sees who is getting off the elevator.

"Alexis?"

Castle left half an hour ago to go and see his doctor. He's very paranoid about this whole phaser protection thing. She would laugh at him - payback for teasing her about Nebula-9 - but it's kind of cute the way he's acting. She'll laugh at him tomorrow.

Right now, she focuses her attention on the young woman in front of her. Alexis' cheeks are flushed and her hair still has a tinge of crimp to it. Not noticeable at all unless you knew what it had looked like.

"Hi," she says shyly. "Umm, I hope it's okay I stopped by. I know Dad isn't here and I really wanted to talk to you...alone?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kate nods. She points to Castle's chair and tells the girl take a seat. "Everything okay?"

Alexis nods, "Yeah...I mean, no, but I guess."

Kate doesn't know exactly what she means but she nods and goes with it, "So, you want to talk?"

Alexis nods again, "Yes. I just, I wanted to thank you."

"Thank...me?" Kate finds that hard to believe. She and Alexis may not be on the worst of terms but she wouldn't call their relationship a strong one. Alexis doesn't hate her, but Kate can't shake the feeling that there is still some sort of resentment in the girl. Castle laughed the one time she told him, and she hasn't brought it up since. "For what? I didn't - I haven't done anything."

"Yeah, you did," the redhead smiles. "At SuperNovaCon yesterday, you pulled my Dad away from me and my friends. He was going to ruin it all for me, make things awful with my friends. It was so embarrassing. I just, I wanted to thank you for rescuing me out there."

Kate chuckles, "Don't even worry about it."

"No," Alexis makes a face, "I really mean it. I know that my costume wasn't all that appropriate, but everyone dresses up there. I honestly never expected to run into Dad. And I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there to pull him away. You kinda saved me out there, Kate. Really, I mean it. Thank you."

Kate nods and accepts the thanks, "Anytime. But, umm, maybe you don't want to make a habit of it?"

The college student's eyes widen and she shakes her head fervently, "No, no way."

Kate smiles again, "Okay."

Alexis stands to go, smiling at the detective once more. She's just leaving her desk when Kate gets an idea.

"Alexis, wait a minute?"

She turns back to face Kate and looks at her curiously, "Yeah?"

"I want to talk to you too," Kate says.

Alexis sits back down and puts her bag back on the ground. "What about?"

"Me and your dad," she says.

Alexis makes another face, "Umm, okay? What about it...?"

"Do you hate it? Do you hate me for being with your dad? Because, I don't know, I feel like you do," Kate shares her fears with her boyfriend's daughter.

"No! God, Kate, no," Alexis denies it. Kate can see the truth in it, but she can also see that there's more. She's about to ask what more there is when Alexis speaks again, "I just - I don't hate you. The thing is... you've hurt my dad, in the past. And I don't want that to happen again. Because with you two together? If he gets hurt again, it'll be so much worse. And I don't know if he'll recover."

"Alexis... I know, that I've hurt your dad. But he's hurt me too. And that is no excuse, but I just want you to know that we've both made mistakes and we've both overcome those mistakes. And I can't promise I won't hurt him again, but I will try my hardest not to," Kate tries to console her.

"I believe you," she nods. "I do, Kate. I just don't want him to lose you because of some stupid mistake one of you made. You mean so much to him."

"He's not going to lose me," Kate says with absolute certainty. "I know that's not a promise I can make, considering my job, but I will not go down without a fight. Not on the job, and not in our relationship. I will stay and I will argue my way back because I don't want to lose him either."

Alexis smiles at her, "Yeah?" There are almost tears in her eyes.

"Of course," Kate grins. "Alexis, you okay?"

"You two are just like a fairytale, in a weird and twisted kind of way," she explains. "You beat all the odds and now you're happy and I'm happy for you." She smiles again at the detective, and this time the smile reaches her eyes. "I can't believe you thought I hated you."

"Yeah, well," Kate shrugs. She glances at the clock on her computer, "Your dad was planning to meet me back here. I would leave soon if you don't want to run into him."

"Oh!" Alexis exclaims. "Yeah, thanks Kate. I'll be going now. But, yeah, thanks. For _everything_."

"No problem," Kate waves goodbye to the girl, feeling more relieved than she would have expected. Thinking Alexis hated her bothered her more than she thought.

Ten minutes later, she is glad she told Alexis to leave when she did, because Castle walks into the precinct. She's finished her paperwork now, and is just starting to take the papers off the murder board and wipe the words off for a fresh start when the next case comes around.

He takes a seat in his chair instead of helping her, but she knows she shouldn't have expected anything more. She settles for rolling her eyes at him and asking how the appointment went.

"So the doctor says my hand will stop glowing in a few days," Castle shakes his hand in front of him.

Kate smiles, "So no mutant powers?"

Castle makes a face that kind of reminds her of the way Alexis scrunches her face, "No, not this time. But at least my hair's not falling out." The detective turns back to take the pictures off the board. Castle smiles at her from behind, "What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Well, it's hard to see your idols fall."

"Oh, Castle, Stephanie Frye was never my idol. Lieutenant Chloe was, and as far as I'm concerned, she's still out there saving humanity," Kate grins at him. She knows he doesn't get what it is with this show, but she knows he understands how a show can affect you in ways you can't even describe. "And no self centred actor is ever going to take that from me."

"And you know what, if they do make a movie, I'm going to be first in line to see it," she continues.

There's a moment's pause and she looks at him. He doesn't say it but the look he has speaks all words for him. If she's going to be first in line to see it, so will he. Not for the movie, but for her. Because he loves her, and if she loves this show that much, he will find a way to enjoy it with her.

And she knows he will.

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**Thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Please review!**


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